Caster



Patented May 8, 1923.

` lGasunie."

Aiipucaun faed ivra'ch 31, 1921. f serial no. 451,ss`...

\ To all whom t concern.:

l Be it known that l, HERMANN .Rl'livaecm a ctizenof th'eylepublic orf Germany, and a resident of Chicago, in the county o Cook and State of lllinois,have inventeda `new :and useful Improvement in C.a`sters,f ofwhich the ollowingis a lfull, clear,` 'andeX- n actdescription.

My invention relates to casters, and it consists 1n the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein described and claimed.-

An object of my invention is to provide a caster that is applicable to various articles of furniture, trucks, and the like, and has means for holding a ball member so lthat .the latter has a rolling contact with the floor or other surface. l

A further object of myy invention is to provide a device 'of the character described that has means forholding a ball member in operative engagement with a floor and 'for yin the Jfollowing specification, andthe novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out-in the appended claim.

n Myl invention is illustrated in the. accom` panying drawings, forming part of this application, in which The'figure is a verticalsection, showing the device operatively applied. In carrying 'out my invention, I provide a body portion `lwhich is formed of any suitable material, *such as metal. The Vbody,v

portion is preferably substantially hemispherical in shape, as shown, and is formed with a socket 2 adapted to receive a ball member which protrudes beyond the edge thereof. The wall of the socket '2 is fashioned lto `conform with the ball member 3 to .the annular line indicated at m and is formed to extend tangent to the ball member 3 from that line to the edge of the socket so that the ball member` 3 will have a` rolling contact with the wall of the socket'adjacent the edge of the latter. v l

The body portion 1 or holder for the ball member 3 is formed with a reduced eXteriorly threadedannularextension and are#V n i f 1,454,119 f TENT}oFFIE? f v'Harnrinvii 1a. Emilion, oF ciceo, illinois. kg

ltaining member l5,'havingthe shapehIO a3j segmentof, a-hollowsphere formed-withfits inner walloffset Yat and threadedgat17,is

adapted to engagewith the threadedeX# ;tension 4L so 'that the inner wall 'thereof is spaced from thev ballzni'em'ber The rlatter f is thus movably held between the':tang'felntialff4 '65 portion of the wall `ofthe socket 2 anda plurality ci relatively small 'ball members 8 that work in a race 9 'which is-or'med by providing an annular groove in` the kwall of the socket 2.

The body portion l has an integral stern` or shankl 10, the axis of which, if extended," would intersect the lcenter of a ball member held within the body portion 1` in the manner described. The ,stem or shank 10 is l threaded eXteriorly lat 11 yfor engagement with an interiorlythreaded tubular-'socket 1, 12-that is disposedin a recess 13 in a portion'f 14 of an article of furniture or the like -to p which the device is applied. In the present instance, the portion 14v is the leg crsupport'l n of the article of furniture, but obviously: the

device may be applied to other portionsy of an article and to articles ofother typesV and `characteristics, as for instance to trucks. The socket 12 has a laterally extending v'flange ladapted to an enlargement 1610i the recess 13. When the socket 12jis'dis` posedin theopening 13 with the iiange '15.

`in the enlargement 1.6, tangs 17 Jformed in'-y tegrally .with the flange atv theou'ter edge 9o y thereof willbe imbedded -in the end ofthe i leg 14 to maintain the socket 13' in positionlf- Fromthe foregoingdescription of the various parts of "the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. The del- `vice is'simple in construction and comprises l p At the same time, it is thorf` l .y voughly eective lfor the purpose intended.;v

but few parts.

The articlesV to which the device applied may be moved easily in any '.dire'ctionsi-nce the lcasteris always in,4 position relative. to

the article supported yto Amove'in any -direc- Since a rolling contact is had by they y ball ymember 3 with a `floor 18 orthe like, the p.

tion.

latter will not be'marked or marred when the articles supported the caster' moved thereover. ,l v

It will` of course be understood numberl of casters required will be applied to each article. 1n assembling the device,

the balls l8 are placed in the r'ace 9 when-v the body portion 1 lis'heldin inverted posithat the .il

' tion. The ballinember 3 is then placed in the socket 2 and'theretaining member 5 is then 'adjusted in theV mannerdescribed. When the stem or shank l0' -is screwed linto the threaded tubular socketV 12,' which "has been secured in therecess 13, the device is ready for service. It is obvious that the device wil-l work without friction.

I claim: n y

The combination with an interiorly threaded tubular socket having a smooth outer snr-y face, a flange at its open end,and inwardly extending prongs adapted to be embedded in the* leg of an article, of a ball carrying member having a threaded shank adapted to be removably' received in said tubular member,

said member having a cylindrical recess with in cross section and being disposed substan-y tially midway between the bottom and the ltop of said recess, a plurality of small ball bearings carried by said groove and beingv adapted to prevent said ball `from moving inwardly or laterally with respect Vto said recess, and a ball retaining ring threaded onto said ball carrying member and having a spherical-shapedopening of the ysame diameter as said ball.l 'f

HERMANN R; niv-filiere 

